02 June 2015

Author Interview - Becky Wicks, The Day of the Wave

Title: The Day of the Wave
Author: Becky Wicks
Publisher: 278 pages, (1st May 2015)
Add to: Goodreads
Order a copy: Amazon, Amazon UK

NOTE: This is a "New Adult" novel. Due to mature content this title is recommended for ages 17+

Synopsis: Isla and Ben were just sixteen when the Boxing Day tsunami tore through their beach resort in Thailand. Just days after forming a life-changing bond, both were missing and presumed dead. Unbeknown to each other and haunted by one of the biggest natural disasters in world history, Isla and Ben are living very different lives, until over a decade later when a chance encounter throws them back together.

Based on real life events, The Day of the Wave is a story of healing, learning to let go, and figuring out when to hold on with everything you have left.

Author Interview:

Hi Becky, Welcome to A Life Bound By Books and thanks for chatting with me today. I’m excited to have you visiting the blog. I have some questions that I’m eager to ask, so how about we get started?

Hi Jen, thanks so much for having me on the blog!!

In a few sentences can you describe The Day of the Wave for future readers?

Well, it’s a book about finding hope where hope is lost and it’s based on real-life events. We follow Ben and Isla, who were sixteen when the 2004 tsunami struck their Thailand beach resort. Both were missing, assumed dead, until they bump into each other by coincidence ten years later.

What inspired you to write about the Boxing Day Tsunami in The Day of the Wave?

It was weird really, but the idea just came to me one day while I was in Sri Lanka. I spent a month there and consequently met a lot of people who were affected by the tsunami in 2004. You can still see the effects of it in some places and everyone has a story about that time. I also met some people who had a narrow escape when I was in Thailand - they had to run up the hill on Phi Phi to get away. It all started mulling on my mind and I knew I wanted to take some of the survival stories I was hearing and fill in the gaps - how could I write a work of fiction about something so devastating and still do it justice? All I knew is that I had to try.

Without giving away too much, can you tell us your favourite line/s from The Day of the Wave?

'Ben, I've been so stupidly scared of everything for so long. Everything. I don't want to be that person anymore. I don't want to be scared.'
I let out another sigh as she searches my eyes. The corridors are calling me down them again till I can see the workings of her brain. She's pulling me on a fucking roller coaster ride here but she's making up for lost time and God knows we lost enough.
'Are you sure you're alright?' she says now. I realize I'm chewing my cheeks, gripping my beer hard. There are things I don't normally let myself think, let alone talk about most of the time. They itch and burn under my skin while I run, but I run till I'm numb every time. I'm not as numb with her. And maybe that's what scares me.” - Excerpt From: Becky Wicks. “The Day of the Wave.”

The Day of the Wave is very different to your Starstruck series because of it's factual base which did you enjoy writing more?

I’m not sure… I really love writing all my books because like all writers I get pretty lost in the characters and their worlds. I think it would be fair to say I feel more accomplished for writing this one, over the others. I had to do a lot of research to get my facts straight, from the descriptions of Thailand to the times and dates that corresponded with what really happened during that period. I had a lot of tsunami nightmares for weeks!

You have travelled a lot, where is your favourite place you have visited- any particular places that have proved to be an inspiration to your writing?

I love Bali, which is why it creeps into so many of my books. It was my home and base for the best part of two years and I used to hide out on the Gili islands and scribble away. It’s so peaceful and the locals are so friendly. It’s one of my “must go back to” spots for sure and it probably always will be. I was also really inspired in Cartagena, in Colombia. I set another book called Moon Burn there, which is a fantasy romance about meds and humans and the oceans gone mad. It’s on Amazon now.

Are there any books you read as a child that you feel may have influenced you to become an author? Or did you always know this is what you wanted to do?

I always knew I wanted to write and I was always writing! I used to fill hundreds of notebooks with random stories about talking animals! I was hugely influenced by Enid Blyton, and Roald Dahl - I just loved those imaginary worlds they created, like The Wishing Chair, The Magic Faraway Tree, and The BFG and Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. I still think those are some of the greatest stories of all time, what an imagination it takes to write stuff like that!

What was the last book you read that blew you away?

Charlie and Pearl by Tammy Robinson - It’s really beautiful!

What's next for Becky Wicks?

Moon Burn promo I think! But I’m also working on a romance novel about Reincarnation which I’m getting quite into, as well as a book in poem form, a bit like Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes, except it’s a romance. It’s a bit of an experiment but I like to shake things up a bit and try new things! You never know what people will respond to in a good way so it’s important to just keep writing I think.
:-)

Becky, thanks for taking the time to talk, it's been great having you join us on the blog. Feel free to drop by anytime, we'd love to have you. Author interview by:

Check out Jenny's Review of: The Day of the Wave By: Becky Wicks

About the Author:

Hey guys! So, the Starstruck Series is my new adult romance offering to the masses. Before He was Famous follows Noah and Chloe's struggle to handle the fame Noah finds through winning a TV talent show. There's plenty of steamy sex and suspense in there, (ah, the thrills of when best friends become lovers). Before He Was Gone follows Chloe's friend Alyssa onto a Survivor-style reality TV show. Before He Was a Secret follows Stephanie's journey to Nashville. With The Day of the Wave I explored the consequences of the Boxing Day tsunami and in Moon Burn things get fantastical with mers....

I've also written three funny travel books about my time in Dubai, Bali and South America (HarperCollins). My first book, Burqalicious - The Dubai Diaries, my second book, Balilicious - The Bali Diaries and my third, Latinalicious -The South America Diaries are out now as ebooks - go ahead and make your feet even itchier.

I've also written a comedy romance with author Sarah Alderson under the name Lola Salt, called The Extraordinary Life of Lara Craft (not Croft) which should raise a giggle or two... think Bridget Jones if Jackie Collins had written it!

Feel free to get in touch at beckywicks@me.com or twitter at bex_wix. Thanks for reading!